


Deck the Halls

by kirana



Series: Supah Sekrit Christmas in July [5]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Christmas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-25
Updated: 2006-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-21 03:52:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1536527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirana/pseuds/kirana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With boys and folly— What? That isn't how the song goes?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deck the Halls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dolimir](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dolimir/gifts).



        "Clark!" The call came just as he was getting up and Clark winced. He reluctantly sat back down and pasted on a smile.

        "What can I do for you, Lana?" he asked as the girl came and stood beside him.

        She hesitated and bit her lip. Concern reared its protective head. "Lana? Is everything okay?"

        "Yeah, I guess so . . . ." Then she heaved a sigh and sat down abruptly. "Actually, no. "I've been trying to get the Talon decorated for Christmas, but, as you can see, everyone I've asked for help has skipped out on me."

        Clark took a look around and, yeah, it was true, the Talon was looking woefully under-decorated for the last week before Christmas. "Did you want me to come by tonight and help you get some decorations up?" he offered.

        She lit up and the sight made him wish it could light him up, too. "Would you?" she asked breathlessly. "Really?" He nodded. then her face fell. "Oh. I can't. Not tonight, Clark. I have a . . . thing. Um, an out of town thing."

        He gave a half shrug and a crooked smile and said, "That's not really a problem, is it? I can meet you here at closing time, get the keys from you, do the decorating, and then lock up behind myself."

        She looked hesitant, but hopeful. "You wouldn't mind?" she asked, looking up at him with soft eyes that, alas, did a flat nothing for his libido.

        He waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, it'll be fine."

        "You're a lifesaver, Clark," Lana said gratefully.

***

        "Lex!"

        Lex winced at the overly familiar voice calling his name. He turned and produced a smile for the girl behind him. A smile that, against all expectations, became real when his eyes met Lana's. _It never fails,_ he thought wryly. _I can hate her all I like when I can't see her, but as soon as I do . . . ._ It probably had something to do with the attention Clark paid her versus the genuinely likeable girl she was. It was something he preferred to do as little thinking about as possible.

        "What can I do for you, Lana?" he asked genially. It may have been his imagination, but he thought he smile widened a trifle.

        "I don't know quite how to ask this," she began, adopting a more somber expression, he noted with some amusement. She breathed in. "Okay. I have someone coming into to do some decorating for the Talon tonight. Unfortunately, it's kinda a bad time for me and I won't be able to lock up after him. And I really hate to ask this, because it's really not something even close to the responsibilities you still have with the Talon, but . . . ."

        "Just spit it out," he advised her kindly. "The worst I can do is say no."

        She flashed him a quick grin, then straightened and discarded her nervousness. "Lex, would you be able to lock up the Talon tonight?" she asked, looking him straight in the eye.

        He had to give her credit for making such an outrageous request of him. Then again . . . he didn't have anything to do tonight but work and doing that small thing for Lana would help him keep his New Year's resolution to get out of the office earlier. It was an old resolution, true, made when getting home earlier meant more time spent pleasantly with Clark, but that was no reason to give it up.

        "It's not a problem," he said before cracking a smile. "it'll get me out of the office on time." He raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I should be the one thanking you."

        Lana looked vaguely appalled. "You're getting out of there at nine?" she squeaked. "Lex, that's not good! You have to have some time for yourself!"

        " I tried taking some 'me' time," he replied distantly, remembering Clark's tirade concerning said 'me' time. He laughed shortly. "It didn't really help. My last 'date' tried to set me on fire. Again."

        Lana made a face. "I guess I can see why you don't have much of a social life," she said. then her eyes widened. "Not that I think you can't have a normal social life! Or that your social life is strange, or, or . . . ." She flushed, embarrassed. "I think I'll stop before I dig myself any deeper," she said with a pained laugh.

        He grinned at her. "It's not a problem," he said. "I'm well aware my mockery of a social life is not normal. So," returning to the original subject, "I'll drop by at nine-ish and lock up behind your decorator."

        "Do you need keys?" she asked, already digging in her purse, presumably in search of her own.

        "no," he replied. "I'm pretty sure I still have keys somewhere in my desk. Anything else I should know?"

        Lana hesitated and her nose wrinkled. "Welllll . . . . It's not that I don't know that I left it late and I know beggars can't be choosers, but . . . ."

        "But," Lex continued for her, "you're perhaps not quite sure of their decorating instincts?"

        She breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded. "Yes, exactly."

        "I supposed it couldn't be too hard to make sure everything's looking good," he allowed. Lana might have thought it would be a bother to him, but he thought it might be . . . nice to experience Christmas through decorating the Talon. And, as a bonus, it allowed him to be helpful to Lana, who, as annoying as Clark was about her, was still a nice girl in her own right. "It won't be a problem," he assured her, straightening from his semi-relaxed slouch.

        "Are you sure?" she asked, her eyes wide and imploring.

        He waved a hand. "Yes, I'm sure, Lana." He made sure to smile again. "But if I'm going to be hanging up boughs of holly tonight, I should be getting back to work or I won't get out of there in time."

***

        Clark knocked on the counter. "Hey, Lana," he said, smiling at the brunette. She smiled back at him and he wistfully wished he felt more than friendship towards her, to be able to take some of his otherness and replace it with normality. But he couldn't and, really, if he was completely honest with himself, would he really want to give up that part of himself? Sure, it was a part that probably would never see the light of day, but, well . . . . Okay, so maybe he didn't have a good reason for not wanting to change himself. it was a source of annoyance and pain, but he didn't want to change. Yeah, maybe he really _was_ as strange as the rest of Smallville.

        "Clark," Lana said when she'd finished what she'd been doing. She gestured to the end of the counter. "I have the decorations right here. Clark," she continued, "I can't tell you how _much_ this means to me. It was just one thing after another and, well, obviously, I ran out of time." She winced sheepishly. "So, thank you." And she gave him a quick nod.

        "I told you before, Lana, I don't have a problem doing it," Clark replied, grinning. "In fact, it'll be kinda fun to put 'em up. It'll sorta be like having _two_ Christmases this year."

        Lana laughed. "You know, I can't argue with that logic," she said, still smiling. "But do you think Santa's likely to fall for it?"

        He laughed with her. "We can always hope!"

***

        Lex eyed the person he could barely see moving inside the Talon and then at his watch with no small measure of annoyance. Whoever Lana had found to do her decorating was taking a lot longer than Lex had thought. He'd _thought_ the guy would do a quick in-and-out, haphazard job, which would leave the way clear for Lex to take over and correct any . . . mistakes that had been made in haste.

        But now it was a quarter to ten and Lex had waited, very patiently, for forty-five minutes, for the slow-as-molasses decorator wannabe to get his ass out of the Talon so Lex could have some fun.

        Enough was enough. In fact, enough was forty-five minutes ago and Lex got out of his car, preparing to—smoothly, of course—intimidate, bribe, or order his way into finishing the decorating _his_ way. It took barely a moment to think of some positives to have to 'share' his time in such a manner—such as heavy lifting and having someone to order around. After all, it would hardly be denied his greater sense of style.

        "Sorry, we're closed!" the impromptu decorator called without looking around. He had a suspiciously familiar voice. In fact, Lex found with a sinking heart, _everything_ about him was suspiciously familiar, from the messy brown hair to the well-worn boots.

        "I'm well aware of that, Clark," he responded coolly. "I used my key."

        Clark was still for a moment before turning to face Lex. There was very little in the way of welcome on his face. "Lex," he said evenly. "What are you doing here?"

        Ah, accusation was to be the flavour of the evening. "I thought I'd plunder the till, maybe switch a few supplies, fudge the books, that sort of thing," he said, sneering. "I could ask you the same," he continued smoothly, "except I was already expecting someone to be here. Shame Lana didn't mention who I was to be locking up after. I could have brought along my bought-and-paid-for upstanding officers to cart off whatever unfortunate you're apprehended to the evils of my custody." He made a show of looking around. "Oh, no one yet? Perhaps I'm a tad early at that."

        Clark looked confused and, sadly, it didn't look to be because of the sarcasm. Lex hated wasting perfectly good sarcasm.

        "Lana asked you to lock up after me?" Clark asked. He dug in his pocket for something. "Yeah, you're right, it _is_ odd." He pulled his hand out and displayed the key resting in it. "'Cause, you see, Lana lent me _her_ key so I could lock up after myself."

        It _was_ odd, Lex conceded; not that he would admit such a thing to Clark. Odd because he had no idea why Lana would do such a thing. Unless she had somehow forgotten or, more likely as it was Smallville, was planning to take both Clark and himself out at the same time. "I'm here, at any rate," he said. "I can finish up if you want to go home." While it wasn't quite the clear 'go away' he wanted to shout out, it at least made it clear he could do without Clark's company.

        "You? Do Christmas decorating?" Clark asked skeptically. He, too, made a show of looking around. "Where's your team of professionals?"

        "why not me?" Lex asked, nettled.

        "Gee, let me think, Mr I-Haven't-Had-Christmas-Since-I-Was-Eleven," Clark said snidely. "Mr Oh-That's-What-The-Help-Is- _There_ -For."

        Lex stiffened. Perhaps his father had a point about friendship being an illusion and a weakness. After all, if he had never considered Clark a friend, he would never have admitted to a longing for Christmases he hadn't had since his mother had passed away. If he hadn't admitted it, he wouldn't be hurt now. Cause and effect.

        Of course, all those 'wouldn't's were eclipsed by the big one. If he'd _listened_ to his father's speeches about emotions equaling vulnerability, he would never have fallen for Clark Kent.

        He wished he'd had the foresight to listen to his father.

        He opened his mouth to put Clark in his place with a few pointed words—alluding to the general lack of trustworthiness, of course, with bonus points if he could work in something about blatant lies—but, before he could say anything, Clark did.

        "I'm sorry, Lex," was what he said. Awkwardly, of course. "I shouldn't've said that. I know you have great taste." Then Clark turned around to face him and Lex hastily shut his mouth; it had dropped open in amazement at getting an _apology_ from _Clark_. Clark looked disturbingly sincere. "I guess maybe I could do with some help to finish this; would you mind?"

        The fragile peace offering hung in the air between them. Lex thought, half-seriously, of throwing it back in Clark's face, but . . . . Whatever part of him that had scorned his father's advice was still strong enough to shove the image of a life without Clark in front of his mind's eye. He knew Clark had reason to be disappointed in him—precious little, given his own double standards—and he knew if he and Clark kept tearing pieces out of each other, he would become infinitely worse than anything he had ever been. He would take his father's lessons and expand on them. It wasn't to say he wouldn't _always_ disappoint Clark, but he still hoped they wouldn't always be at each other's throats because of it.

        So he made himself relax and take the olive branch Clark had offered.

        "Why don't you tell me what you'd planned," he said slowly.

***

        He almost had to catch his jaw with his hand to keep it from dropping when Lex actually _took_ him up on his peace offering. Lex, he knew, was not a man to meet someone halfway.

        And then he corrected himself, Lex was _exactly_ the type of person to meet a _friend_ halfway. Clark had to admit, he'd not been anything close to a friend lately.

        "I didn't exactly have a plan of attack," Clark admitted in the face of Lex's question. He ducked his head. "I've kinda been putting stuff where it looks good." It felt kinda strange when Lex maintained a polite facade instead of going on about how one had to ' _plan_ these things, Clark, how else are you going to get anything done?' but, once again, Clark hadn't exactly been acting particularly friend-like.

        He watched Lex take another quick look around. "You seem to have done a good job without a plan," the bald man conceded before looking at Clark again. "What's the next item on the list?" And then Lex unbent enough to grin and add, "Not that you had one."

        Clark's grin in return was much larger and had huge amounts of relief powering it. "I was thinking of doing some lights and tinsel around some of the columns," he replied, "but I dunno if there's enough cord to do it."

        "well," Lex said, buttoning his cuffs and rolling up his sleeves, "let's find out."

***

        "That was fun," Clark said with a grin, collapsing onto one of the Talon's couches.

        Lex huffed and dropped beside him. "That was embarrassing," he corrected and sighed. "I'm just glad no one saw me tangled up in those lights."

        "Whaddya mean, no one saw you?" Clark asked playfully. " _I_ saw that." He tapped Lex's nose lightly. "And you made a very cute Lexmas tree."

        Lex waved his hand in negation. "Doesn't matter," he said absently. "You're not just anyone." Then he seemed to realise what he had just said. He clamped his mouth shut and turned his head away, embarrassed all over again.

        Clark regarded him thoughtfully for a moment before pushing himself upright. "I think I saw one more box of decorations," he announced, heading for the end of the counter. He ignored Lex's groan and brought the box back to the couch.

        "So. What's in it?" Lex asked after a moment. He didn't wait for Clark's answer before he was opening it.

        He brought out a plastic representation of seasonal foliage. " . . . holly?" he put it to one side and dug into the box again. "More holly?" he raised questioning eyes to Clark. "One, didn't we already put up bunches of holly? And, two, is it _all_ holly in here?"

        "Yes to the first," Clark replied, giving the box a quick scan. "And probably yes to the second, too?" They considered the box. "Maybe she wants everyone to be _really_ friendly?" he hazarded.

        "Clark, that's _mistletoe_ you kiss under, not holly." Lex's voice sounded fondly exasperated.

        Clark shrugged. "They both have green leaves _and_ berries _and_ are associated with Christmas," he replied indifferently. " _I_ should keep them apart in my mind? No one's complained yet over being kissed under the holly instead of the mistletoe."

        "Holly," Lex said pointedly, "was once thought to be protection against witchcraft, has _spiky_ leaves, and has _red_ berries. Mistletoe, on the other hand, was once a holy symbol of life, has smooth, waxy leaves, and sports _white_ berries. There's a pretty big difference, Clark."

        "No one's ever complained," Clark reiterated.

        " _I'm_ complaining," Lex said firmly, slapping his hand down on top of the box. "About your poor grasp of seasonal flora and about the huge amount of said seasonal flora Lana apparently wants us to put up. _Why_ does she want protection against witchcraft?"

        "Gee, I wonder why," Clark muttered under his breath. Then he said in a louder voice, "And you're not allowed to complain about my flora recognition skills, as I haven't kissed _you_ under inappropriate sprigs of holiday foliage."

        Lex considered that. "Good point," he conceded. "Well?" he then challenged, spreading his arms wide. "What's holding you up? If I'm going to bitch and moan about you, I'm going to have all my little ducks in a row so _you_ can't disregard my valid complaints."

        Clark choked on two things. One, kiss _Lex_? Of course he hadn't! He'd _wanted_ to, but that wasn't the point! And, two, 'ducks in a row'? He _knew_ Lex wasn't drunk, so what the heck was up with that?"

        He eyed Lex, who was amusing himself by making two sprigs of holly 'talk' to each other to the sound of Jeopardy's theme. Maybe he should revise his theory on how Lex couldn't be drunk. Even his alien eyes couldn't watch Lex _all_ the time."

        "Are you okay, Lex?" he asked cautiously.

        "Hmmm? Oh, I'm fine, Clark," was the absent answer. "I'm just a bit tired, is all. I've had to learn a painful lesson recently: You haven't actually worked a Christmas until your personal assistant takes some of his vacation _right_ at Christmas.:

        Lex continued talking        complaining—but he'd already given Clark the big clue. Dark bags under his eyes, the increasingly relaxed behaviour with him . . . .

        "How much sleep have you had?" Clark asked gently.

        "Oh, enough," Lex said carelessly, waving away the question. He fixed Clark with a particularly malevolent look "Now, am I going to get my kiss or not?"

        Clark took stock of the situation. Lex was very, very tired. Lex's inhibitions were relaxed. Lex wanted Clark to kiss him so he could complain about being kissed under holly as opposed to mistletoe. Clark wanted to kiss Lex, although it was less for the complaints and more for, well, _kissing Lex_. Clark shouldn't take advantage of his sleep-deprived friend, especially if he wanted to _stay_ friends. Clark and Lex, however, had not been on the best of terms for a while, so kissing Lex was unlikely to cause a _bigger_ gaping hole in his heart than the one already there.

        And, in the end, it all came down to this: Clark wanted to kiss Lex. Through a happy (temporary) coincidence, Lex wanted Clark to kiss him. Everything else was only justification to actually _do_ it.

        He shrugged. "The ayes have it," he muttered, moving towards the couch.

        Lex looked up, startled, when he set a knee on the cushion beside him and plucked one of the holly sprigs out of his hand. "Clark?"

        Clark grinned and held the holly over their heads as he leaned in. "Hey, you asked for it," he said before pressing his lips to Lex's. He didn't try anything fancy, just a lingering press of their lips. When he felt Lex move, he moved back and chanced a look.

        Lex was frowning at him.

        "What?" he asked, half-grinning. "You going to start complaining now?"

        "Yes," Lex announced, hooking his hand around the back of Clark's neck and pulling him down forcefully. "Because that was _not_ a proper kiss."

        Clark's eyes widened as _Lex_ kissed him, taking control of the kiss and showing Clark just how much that first kiss had sucked. Or not, because that was _exactly_ what Lex was doing to his tongue and, _man_ , it felt good.

        It felt so good, he had to chase Lex down when the kiss ended and try the other man's techniques for himself.

        His brain surfaced briefly to tell him that he was now lying on top of Lex with his hands on warm Lex-skin, but, since he already _knew_ that, he cheerfully ignored his brain and went back to really giving Lex something to complain about.

        he wasn't quite sure how long they had been necking when a soft snore sounded in his ear, but it had obviously been long enough for Lex to succumb to his exhaustion and fall asleep. Clark raised his head from Lex's inviting neck and stared at Lex for a moment. Lex's face was relaxed and, somehow, looked . . . happy.

        Clark sighed loudly and, when that failed to produce any response—not even a twitch!—he began to rearrange Lex and himself into more comfortable positions.

        It was just as well he hadn't been trying to get away, he reflected. At his first movement, Lex's arms had tightened around him and a frown had appeared on the older man's face. Once Clark had stopped moving, however, Lex had made a few adjustments of his own in their positions before planting his face against Clark's neck and relaxing fully into sleep.

        Clark knew it wasn't anything close to a good idea to go to sleep with Lex Luthor all tangled up around him and not just because Lana was probably going to show up and _see_ them. lying together. True, he was completely, totally, and irrevocably gay, but that didn't mean he'd told anyone _else_ that.

        On the other hand, he and Lex were going to need to talk about what had just happened and he figured he'd have a better chance of catching the other man if Lex woke up confused about his surroundings. One thing he knew for sure was that he'd liked kissing Lex, even more than he'd thought he would. He wasn't about to let something like that slip away without a fight.

***

        Lana turned her key in the lock and held her breath, hoping the oil she'd applied to it the day before would keep it quiet. She wasn't sure what had gone on, of course, but Lex's car was still outside and the lights inside the Talon proper were still on.

        She crossed her fingers as she peeked inside the common area. She couldn't see much of anything interesting, with the new decorations confusing her a little about where everything was, but at least the decorations looked passable. Morning and a chance to fully explore the cafe would tell if Clark had managed to muck up anything, but the sight of Clark's jacket still draped over a chair gave her hope that even a horrible decorating job would be worth whatever had happened.

        She had given up looking for them and started flicking off the lights when movement from one of the couches drew her attention and she squinted, finally recognising Lex's face as he looked at her over a slumbering Clark's shoulder. Their eyes met and she saw his arm tighten around Clark in an unmistakably possessive gesture.

        Lana gave in to the uncharacteristic urge to jump up and down in triumph and gave Lex a thumbs-up and a smile before heading for the staircase to her apartment.

        Yes, she definitely had a knack for manipulation. It was a good thing for the world indeed that she only used her power for good.


End file.
